Google has been taking its nice sweet time in preparing its Google Glass headset for a commercial launch, and for good reason: the product is unlike anything the public’s yet familiar with, and unless Google really hits this one out of park, there’s the very real threat that the project will come off as little more than an expensive fad. In order to make sure Glass is properly received, the company’s been spending a lot of time testing and evaluating the product with its Glass Explorers, a select group of enthusiasts invited to participate in this early stage of Glass – after paying a hefty $1500 for the hardware, anyway. Lately, we’ve heard of efforts to start exposing more and more users to Glass, like that cross-country demo tour, or word that current Glass Explorers would be able to invite three of their friends to join the program. Even if you don’t know anyone like that, you still may have a chance to score your own Glass, as Google starts expanding the scope of Glass Explorer.

You’ll still need an invitation to buy Glass early, but now it’s a lot easier to get one. All you need to do is register your interest with Google, and specify that you’d like a Glass invite when the opportunity opens up. There’s no telling how long it may take to get one, but the fact that Google is doing this at all suggests it really wants to get a whole lot of additional users generating feedback on Glass before the ultimate commercial launch.

But still – $1500 is a steep bill to swallow, and even feels like a slightly worse deal now, as we’re this much closer to that final launch when Glass will presumably be much more affordable. Then again, maybe Google intends to make with a price cut already; this sign-up page doesn’t specifically mention that $1500 tag, so maybe when these new invitations finally go out, we could be in for a surprise.